Types of housing and residential areas

An open atmosphere and communality are at the heart of Kuopio. Surveys indicate that the residents of Kuopio are generally quite content. Proximity to the nature and the suitable size of the city support healthy everyday choices. The distances are short, and many of the city’s neighbourhoods are close to the water. Enjoyable and safe residential areas and meeting places are built by involving and listening to the residents – the residents themselves are at the centre of their way of life.

In Kuopio everything is near, and all the services of the city centre are accessible on foot or by bike. Short distances and diverse forms of housing also support people in all walks of life: everyday life with children can be more comfortable in the peaceful countryside, but you may wish to spend your retirement in the bustling city – or vice versa.

Housing

Finns dream of living in a single-family house by the water, in the vicinity of the city, in peace and quiet, according to a survey commissioned by S-Bank in 2018. In Kuopio, that dream can become true. Lake Kallavesi, the tenth largest lake in Finland, wraps around the city, guaranteeing proximity to water for nearly all residents. Population growth is concentrated on the southern parts of the city, which house around one fifth of all residents in the Kuopio region.

Kuopio has a wide range of different kinds of rental housing available. As nearly one third of the surface area of Kuopio is water and half is covered by forests, it is relatively easy to find an apartment with a great view of the lake or a forest, or even both. The largest rental property company in Kuopio is the city-owned Niiralan Kulma Oy. The company owns more than 7,000 apartments, providing housing for around 12,000 Kuopio residents. Most of the rental apartments are in apartment buildings, but there are also some single-family houses and row houses available. Kuopio also offers housing designed for students and young people as well as housing suitable for senior citizens and their service needs.
- Rented housing (Link coming)
- Niiralan Kulma Oy
- Student and youth housing (Link coming)
- Rental housing for seniors (Link coming)
The City of Kuopio aims to keep its structural expansion as slow as possible, which means that most new homes will be implemented as complementary building using rededicated sites. Many different kinds of homes are available for purchase, from apartment buildings and row houses to single-family houses. A right-of-occupancy apartment is a great alternative to buying or renting a home. Kuopio currently has around 1,140 right-of-occupancy apartments and more are being built all the time. The newest buildings are located in Päiväranta, Saaristokaupunki, Mölymäki, Petonen, and Julkula.

Around 23% of the population of Kuopio live in former municipal centres or rural areas. In addition to permanent homes, Kuopio has 10,850 summer cottages, which is more than anywhere else in Finland.
- Right-of-occupancy housing (Link coming)
The City of Kuopio offers plots for single-family houses, row houses and apartment buildings as well as commercial buildings. The city offers around 60 new plots for single-family houses each year, and applications for the plots can be submitted in the spring and/or autumn. There are also plots for single-family houses available for continuous application around the year, both in the central urban area and in rural areas (Riistavesi, Vehmersalmi, Karttula, Pihkainmäki, Syvänniemi, Maaninka, Käärmelahti, Nilsiä, Juankoski, Muuruvesi, and Säyneinen). There are currently around 170 plots for single-family houses available in rural communities, mostly in Vehmersalmi, Maaninka, and Juankoski.

Kuopio has 6,340 kilometres of shoreline, which means that there are often not only flat plots but also lakeside plots available when the city organises calls for tenders. In addition, the City of Kuopio has leased land for some 330 holiday homes. If you are in need of something smaller, the city also leases 300 m2 parcels from four allotment garden areas covering 100 summer cottages.
- Plots (Link coming)
- Plots for single-family homes (urban area and rural communities) (Link coming)
- Holiday home plots and cottage parcels (Link coming)

In Kuopio you can find residential areas for everyone. Wherever in Kuopio you choose to make your home, the peacefulness of nature and the bustle of a city are combined into a harmonious whole – you can mix and match as you please. In Kuopio, you can live your best life in the jovial Savonian way.

The urban centre of Kuopio consists of several distinctive neighbourhoods. Below are descriptions of the areas where several neighbourhoods have been combined. Explore a map of the residential areas

The city centre and its neighbouring areas offer a wide range of options for residents who prefer to be close to services. The housing stock in the city centre consists mainly of apartment buildings, and the population is divided into senior households as well as young students and working single households. Haapaniemi also consists mostly of apartment buildings and is inhabited by both senior citizens and young people. The Niirala single-family house area, on the other hand, attracts families with children, as does the Rönö island, another single-family house area located next to the Väinölänniemi urban park. The smaller streets of the city centre form the largest pedestrian centre in Finland.
Linnanpelto, Itkonniemi and Männistö as well as Kelloniemi, which is located a little further away, are old and peaceful residential areas 2–4 kilometres northeast of the market square. Apart from Linnanpelto, which is dominated by single-family houses and row houses, the areas mostly consist of apartment buildings. In addition to residential buildings, Kelloniemi also has a large number of industrial and commercial properties. Residents in these areas mostly live in households of one of two people. A bit less than one fifth of the population consists of families with children. The population is the oldest of the urban areas of Kuopio. The average age of residents is over 40 years. Located next to Kelloniemi, Rahusenkangas is an exception to this. As a single-family house area close to nature, it is popular among families with children.
The Puijonlaakso and Rypysuo residential areas are approximately 2–3 kilometres northwest of the city centre. Rypysuo is an old and diverse residential area, while Puijonlaakso’s housing stock consists mainly of apartment buildings. The population varies from students to working-age people and senior citizens. Peipposenrinne and the new Pihlajalaakso area have both apartment buildings and single-family houses. The lakeside neighbourhood of Julkula consists mostly of row houses and is popular among young couples and families with children, as are the Päiväranta and Kettulanlahti single-family house areas near the Kallansillat bridges. With the exception of Kettulanlahti, all the aforementioned neighbourhoods are bordered by the Puijo nature reserve.
Once finished, the new Savilahti neighbourhood will provide homes for around 7,000–8,000 residents. Varying solutions for owner-occupied, right-of-occupancy and rental housing are planned for the area. The buildings are designed in such a way that as many apartments as possible will have a view of the lake. In Savilahti, comfortable living is complemented by top expertise and recreational facilities with lakeside views along good transport connections.

The woody Neulamäki area is located 4–5 kilometres southwest of the city centre, behind Savilahti. The Neulamäki area has a wide range of row houses, apartment buildings and single-family houses, and its age structure also varies, the population consisting equally of young people, families with children and senior citizens. Construction in Neulamäki began in the 1980s. Thanks to the Kolmisoppi nature reserve, the area has excellent jogging routes, and the forest paths also give you access to the Pieni Neulamäki area. The Kolmisoppi area also has allotment gardens.
The Särkinniemi and Särkilahti residential areas located 2–3 kilometres south of the city centre consist mostly of apartment buildings and row houses that are popular among young students and families with children. Levänen, which is located around 6 kilometres south of the city centre, offers a wide range of housing options close to nature, as does Jynkkä, which mostly consists of single-family houses and is particularly popular among young families with children.
Lehtoniemi-Keilanranta, located around 5 kilometres south of the market square, forms the apartment building heavy part of Saaristokaupunki. Lehtoniemi, which was built in the 2010s and 2020s, as well as the single-family house area of Rautaniemi on the other side of the Keilankanta bridge are the newest residential areas in Kuopio, together with Pihlajalaakso, which is located near Puijo. These northern parts of Saaristokaupunki, where the distance from the front door to the lakeside is never more than 500 metres, are popular among families with children, which is also reflected in the number of playgrounds in the area. The population of Rautaniemi is the youngest of the Kuopio urban areas, with an average age of 28 years. Saaristokatu with its beautiful views is a national attraction.
Petonen, a green park city located just over 10 kilometres from the Kuopio city centre, offers a wide range of services. This growing area on the southern side of Kuopio has a versatile selection of different kinds of housing. The Pyörö area in the middle is dominated by apartment buildings, and it is surrounded by the Litmanen and Pitkälahti areas with predominantly row houses and single-family homes. A single-family house area popular among families with children acts as a bridge between the southern parts of Saaristokaupunki – Pirttiniemi and Savolanniemi – and the Petonen park city. Next to Petonen is the growing Southern Kuopio Business Park, the Emergency Services Academy, and the Lippumäki Sports Centre.
The rural areas of Kuopio consist of six municipal centres: Riistavesi, Vehmersalmi, Karttula, Nilsiä, Maaninka, and Juankoski. Municipal mergers made Kuopio into the largest producer of milk in Finland and the second largest producer of beef. In addition, the Kuopio area includes several smaller rural villages that utilise the services of residential areas within the city. The southern village of Vehmasmäki is home to the Kuopio Animal Park, which opened in 1984, and the communal village of Kurkimäki is a rural residential area popular among young families with children. Other areas popular among working families with children are the single-family house areas of Hiltulanlahti and Puutossalmi, which is known for its ferry.